- Apr 20, 2005
- 2,619
- 1,491
Obviously it would cost a ton, but right now it's what we sorely need, so we have to consider spending for it.
If Mueller turns out to be another 3rd pairing D like Moore and Merrill, it's not very useful to us. I'm getting a bit excited to see what we got now though.
I think we need to wait 2 - 3 years before we know what we got in this deal.
The kid played 4 NHL games last year. There is no way he's fully baked next year. The Devils had weak defensive structure last year. If that doesn't change, the situations he'll face in NJ are likely more challenging than anything he saw in SJ. If he crushes it next year, then maybe we have a star on our hands. But, more likely, he'll struggle when facing tougher competition / when paired with a weaker partner. We'll need to see how he reacts - not just next year, but the year or two after.
People are right about how long a 2nd round pick is from contributing. Remember, Severson was a 2nd rounder in 2012, and Merrill was a 2nd rounder from 2010. We're now 5 - 7 years later, and we're still waiting on both to finish developing. But, while we do get to jump forward in time, we don't get to skip all of Mueller's development.
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